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Product 4

Excel Add-ins

Pull quotes, history, movers, fundamentals, indicators, options and macro data into your spreadsheets with =APEXTICK functions, in ApexTick Excel Lite or ApexTick Excel Native.

ApexTick for Excel adds =APEXTICK.* worksheet functions that return market data straight into cells. Both editions share the same function names, spill layouts and error codes, and use your normal API key and plan.

Choose your edition

ApexTick Excel LiteApexTick Excel Native
PlatformsExcel for Windows, Mac and Excel on the WebExcel for Windows desktop
PlansAll plans, including HobbyistQuant & Community and Enterprise
FunctionsAll 17 functions, including APEXTICK.STREAM (Trader Pro+)All 17 functions, including APEXTICK.STREAM
Live updatesReal-time streaming into cells with APEXTICK.STREAM (Trader Pro+), or on sheet recalculationReal-time RTD streaming into cells with APEXTICK.STREAM
Quote batchingAPEXTICK.QUOTE calls are batched in 50ms windows, up to 50 symbols per requestSame: 50ms windows, up to 50 symbols per request
Response cachingCached in the add-in for 1 minute to 1 hour, depending on the functionEvery recalculation fetches current data

Quote batching means that when you fill APEXTICK.QUOTE down a column, the add-in collects the calls made within 50ms and fetches them together, so a 200-row watchlist can cost as few as 4 requests instead of 200.

Caching in ApexTick Excel Lite: history, movers and options chains are reused for 5 minutes; indicators and the options screener for 1 minute; and profiles, financials, earnings, dividends, splits, ETFs, search and economic data for 1 hour. Recalculating within those windows doesn't spend your quota.

Your plan still applies

Every request counts towards your daily quota and rate limit, and follows the same endpoint staircase as the REST API. For example, options functions need Quant & Community, and APEXTICK.ECO needs Enterprise. ApexTick Excel Native itself requires Quant & Community or Enterprise: on Hobbyist and Trader Pro, every Native function returns #UPGRADE_REQUIRED.

Setup

Both add-ins are downloaded from the Excel Add-ins card on the Data API page of your dashboard, dash.apextick.com/products/data-api. You'll also need your API key from the dashboard. Keys start with dk_.

ApexTick Excel Lite

Available on all plans, in Excel on the web, Excel for Mac and Excel for Windows. It needs a current version of Excel: Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2021 or later, or Excel on the web.

On the Data API page, click Download Manifest to save apextick-excel-lite-manifest.xml, then follow the steps for your platform. The manifest only tells Excel where to load ApexTick from, so the same file works on every platform and new versions of the add-in arrive without reinstalling.

Excel on the web

  1. Open a workbook at excel.office.com.
  2. Go to Home (or Insert) → Add-ins → More Add-ins. Newer versions label this More Settings.
  3. In the Office Add-ins dialog, select My Add-ins → Upload My Add-in.
  4. Click Browse, choose apextick-excel-lite-manifest.xml and click Upload.

The ApexTick tab appears on the ribbon. Excel on the web keeps uploaded add-ins in your browser's storage, so upload the manifest again if you clear your browser data or switch to another browser or computer.

Excel for Mac

  1. Open Finder and press Cmd+Shift+G to open Go to Folder.
  2. Go to ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Documents/wef. If the wef folder doesn't exist, go to ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Documents and create a folder named wef there.
  3. Copy apextick-excel-lite-manifest.xml into the wef folder.
  4. Restart Excel (quit it with Cmd+Q, then reopen it) and open a workbook.
  5. Go to Insert (or Home) → Add-ins → My Add-ins and select ApexTick Excel Lite.

Excel for Windows

Excel for Windows loads the add-in from a source your organization trusts. Use the Microsoft 365 admin center to deploy it to a team, or a shared folder catalog for a single computer.

Microsoft 365 admin center (org-wide deployment; a Microsoft 365 admin does this once):

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
  2. Go to Settings → Integrated apps → Upload custom apps.
  3. Upload apextick-excel-lite-manifest.xml as the manifest file.
  4. Choose who gets the add-in (just you, specific users or groups, or everyone) and deploy it.

Users get the ApexTick tab after restarting Excel. Microsoft notes that a new deployment can take 24 to 72 hours to reach every user. Admin-deployed add-ins also appear for those users in Excel on the web and Excel for Mac.

Shared folder catalog (no admin center needed):

  1. Put apextick-excel-lite-manifest.xml in a shared network folder, for example \\fileserver\excel-addins.
  2. In Excel, go to File → Options → Trust Center → Trust Center Settings → Trusted Add-in Catalogs.
  3. In Catalog Url, enter the full network path of the folder and click Add catalog.
  4. Tick Show in Menu for the new catalog and click OK.
  5. Restart Excel, then go to Insert (or Home) → Add-ins → My Add-ins → Shared Folder, select ApexTick Excel Lite and click Add.

Connect Excel Lite to your API key

  1. Open the ApexTick tab on the Excel ribbon and click Show Taskpane.
  2. In the taskpane's Authentication card, paste your dk_… API key and click Save API Key.
  3. The card now shows Connected with the last four characters of your key. To change it later, click Update Key.

The taskpane also has:

  • Quick Reference: example formulas, each with a badge (PRO, QUANT or ENTERPRISE) when it needs a higher plan than Hobbyist.
  • Seeing Errors in Cells?: what #RATE_LIMIT and #UPGRADE_REQUIRED mean, with an Upgrade Plan button.
  • Links to Read the Documentation (this page) and Manage API Keys (your dashboard).

Remove ApexTick Excel Lite

  • Excel on the web: clear your browser's site data for Office, where uploaded add-ins are stored.
  • Excel for Mac: quit Excel, delete apextick-excel-lite-manifest.xml from the wef folder and reopen Excel. If the ApexTick tab is still there, clear the Office add-in cache.
  • Excel for Windows, admin center: an admin opens Settings → Integrated apps, selects ApexTick Excel Lite and removes it, or removes individual users from it.
  • Excel for Windows, shared folder: delete the manifest from the shared folder (or remove the catalog under Trusted Add-in Catalogs). On the same page, tick Next time Office starts, clear all previously-started web add-ins cache, click OK and restart Excel.

ApexTick Excel Native

Available on Quant & Community and Enterprise, for Excel 2016 or later on Windows desktop (Microsoft 365 recommended). On other plans, the download button on the Data API page is disabled and links to an upgrade.

Install Excel Native

  1. On the Data API page, click Download Windows Add-in (64-bit) to save ApexTick-Excel-Native-x64.zip.
  2. Close Excel completely. The installer stops if Excel is still running.
  3. Tip: before extracting, right-click the downloaded .zip file → Properties → check Unblock → OK, so Windows doesn't show a SmartScreen prompt when you run Install-ApexTick.cmd.
  4. Right-click the zip file and choose Extract All….
  5. In the extracted folder, double-click Install-ApexTick.cmd.

The installer copies the add-in into %APPDATA%\Microsoft\AddIns\ApexTick\ and registers it in Excel for your Windows user account, with no Administrator privileges required. It detects whether your Office is 64-bit or 32-bit and installs the matching edition, so the same download works for both. When it reports ApexTick Excel Native was installed successfully, press any key to close the window.

Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 8

ApexTick Excel Native runs on the Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 8. If the installer says it wasn't found, install it from dotnet.microsoft.com (x64 for 64-bit Office, x86 for 32-bit Office) and restart Excel. For scripted rollouts, Install-ApexTick.cmd /quiet skips the closing prompt.

Connect Excel Native to your API key

  1. Open Excel and select the ApexTick tab on the ribbon.
  2. In the Authentication group, click API Settings.
  3. In the ApexTick Excel Native – API Settings dialog, paste your dk_… API key and click Save. You'll see Settings saved successfully.

The key is saved to your Windows user profile and is used for new requests and stream connections right away, without restarting Excel. The Documentation button in the Resources group opens this page.

Update or uninstall Excel Native

  • Update: close Excel, download and extract the new release, and run its Install-ApexTick.cmd. It replaces the installed version in place, and your saved API key is kept.
  • Uninstall: close Excel and double-click Uninstall-ApexTick.cmd in the extracted folder. It removes the add-in files and Excel's registration of the add-in, and the ApexTick tab no longer appears when you reopen Excel. Your saved API key stays in your Windows profile, so reinstalling later reconnects automatically.

Your first formula

Excel
=APEXTICK.QUOTE("AAPL")

Functions that return tables, such as history, movers or holdings, spill into the cells below and to the right, with a header row first. Leave room for the results, or Excel shows #SPILL!.

Function reference

Arguments in square brackets are optional. Text arguments go in double quotes, dates use YYYY-MM-DD, and text arguments such as fields and indicators are not case-sensitive.

#FunctionReturnsPlan
1APEXTICK.QUOTE(symbol, [field])One quote field, price by defaultAll plans
2APEXTICK.HISTORY(symbol, resolution, [from], [to])Candles (spills)All plans, depth by plan
3APEXTICK.MOVERS([asset_class], [trend])Market movers (spills)All plans
4APEXTICK.SEARCH(query, [asset_class])Matching tickers (spills)All plans; asset_class filter Trader Pro+
5APEXTICK.INDICATOR(symbol, indicator)One indicator valueTrader Pro+
6APEXTICK.PROFILE(symbol, [field])One company profile fieldTrader Pro+
7APEXTICK.FINANCIALS(symbol)Key financials (spills)Trader Pro+
8APEXTICK.EARNINGS(symbol)Earnings (spills)Trader Pro+
9APEXTICK.DIVIDENDS(symbol)Dividends (spills)Trader Pro+
10APEXTICK.SPLITS(symbol)Splits (spills)Trader Pro+
11APEXTICK.ETF.PROFILE(symbol, [field])One ETF field, aum by defaultTrader Pro+
12APEXTICK.ETF.HOLDINGS(symbol)Holdings (spills)Trader Pro+
13APEXTICK.STREAM(symbol, [field])Real-time streamed valueTrader Pro+ (Lite) / Quant & Community+ (Native)
14APEXTICK.OPTIONS.CHAIN(symbol)Options chain (spills)Quant & Community+
15APEXTICK.OPTIONS.SCREENER([symbol], [type], [min_volume], [min_oi])Screener results (spills)Quant & Community+
16APEXTICK.ECO(series_id, [date]) and APEXTICK.ECO.CATALOG([query])Economic series and catalog (spill)Enterprise

Quotes

APEXTICK.QUOTE(symbol, [field]) returns one field of the current quote, and the price when field is left out. Fields: price, change, change_percent, open, high, low, previous_close, volume, timestamp and symbol.

Excel
=APEXTICK.QUOTE("NVDA")
=APEXTICK.QUOTE("AAPL", "change_percent")
=APEXTICK.QUOTE("BTC-USD", "volume")

Quote freshness follows your plan: up to 15 seconds on Hobbyist, 5 seconds on Trader Pro and 1 second on Quant & Community and Enterprise.

History

APEXTICK.HISTORY(symbol, resolution, [from], [to]) spills candles as:

Time · Open · High · Low · Close · Volume

resolution is required: 1m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1h, 1d, 1wk or 1mo. As with the REST API, ranges older than your plan's depth are shortened rather than rejected.

Excel
=APEXTICK.HISTORY("NVDA", "1d")
=APEXTICK.HISTORY("AAPL", "1d", "2026-01-01", "2026-10-15")
=APEXTICK.HISTORY("BTC-USD", "1h")

Market movers

APEXTICK.MOVERS([asset_class], [trend]) spills today's movers as:

Symbol · Name · Price · Change · Change % · Volume

asset_class is "eq" (default), "etf" or "fx". trend is "up" (gainers, default), "down" (losers) or "volume" (most active).

Excel
=APEXTICK.MOVERS()
=APEXTICK.MOVERS("etf", "volume")

APEXTICK.SEARCH(query, [asset_class]) finds instruments by symbol or name and spills:

Symbol · Name · Exchange · Asset Class

asset_class filters the results, e.g. "equity" or "etf". Filtering needs Trader Pro or higher; on Hobbyist it returns #UPGRADE_REQUIRED.

Excel
=APEXTICK.SEARCH("Apple")
=APEXTICK.SEARCH("semiconductor", "equity")

Technical indicators

APEXTICK.INDICATOR(symbol, indicator) returns one indicator value: sma20, sma50, sma200, rsi14, macd14, atr14, stoch_k14, volatility30, macd, macd_signal, macd_hist (MACD 12/26/9 on daily closes), avg_volume20 (20-session average volume) or rvol20.

rvol20 is relative volume: the current session's volume divided by avg_volume20, the same measure used by volume alerts. 2 means twice the normal volume.

Excel
=APEXTICK.INDICATOR("NVDA", "rvol20")
=APEXTICK.INDICATOR("AAPL", "rsi14")
=APEXTICK.INDICATOR("SPY", "sma50") > APEXTICK.INDICATOR("SPY", "sma200")

Fundamentals and corporate actions

APEXTICK.PROFILE(symbol, [field]) returns one company profile field: company_name, exchange, industry, sector, description, ceo, website, hq_address, pe_ratio, eps_growth_pct, eps_annual or earnings_recent. Spaces in the field name are read as underscores.

Editions differ

In ApexTick Excel Lite, field is required. In ApexTick Excel Native it is optional and defaults to company_name.

APEXTICK.FINANCIALS(symbol) spills two rows, a header row and a values row:

Market Cap · Shares Outstanding · EPS TTM · P/E Ratio · Price to Book · ROE · Dividend Yield

APEXTICK.EARNINGS(symbol) spills Period · Estimate · Actual. Cells stay empty where a value isn't available yet, such as Actual for upcoming quarters.

APEXTICK.DIVIDENDS(symbol) spills Ex-Dividend Date · Cash Amount.

APEXTICK.SPLITS(symbol) spills Execution Date · Split From · Split To.

Excel
=APEXTICK.PROFILE("AAPL", "pe_ratio")
=APEXTICK.FINANCIALS("AAPL")
=APEXTICK.EARNINGS("NVDA")
=APEXTICK.DIVIDENDS("KO")
=APEXTICK.SPLITS("NVDA")

ETFs

APEXTICK.ETF.PROFILE(symbol, [field]) returns one ETF field: aum (the default; net_assets works as an alias), name, asset_class or symbol.

APEXTICK.ETF.HOLDINGS(symbol) spills the constituents as Symbol · Name · Weight.

Excel
=APEXTICK.ETF.PROFILE("SPY")
=APEXTICK.ETF.PROFILE("QQQ", "name")
=APEXTICK.ETF.HOLDINGS("QQQ")

Live streaming

APEXTICK.STREAM(symbol, [field]) streams a value into the cell in real time in both ApexTick Excel Lite (Trader Pro+) and ApexTick Excel Native (Quant & Community+). Fields: price (default), volume and timestamp.

  • The cell shows #GETTING_DATA... until the first update arrives, then updates on every trade.
  • If the connection drops, the add-in reconnects and resubscribes automatically.
  • Streamed symbols count towards your plan's concurrent WebSocket symbol limit: 10 on Trader Pro, 50 on Quant & Community and 200 on Enterprise. The limit is shared across every open stream connection on your account, including your Excel workbooks and your own WebSocket clients. Symbols beyond the limit show #SYMBOL_LIMIT (Lite) or are refused.
Excel
=APEXTICK.STREAM("BTC-USD")
=APEXTICK.STREAM("NVDA", "volume")

Options

APEXTICK.OPTIONS.CHAIN(symbol) spills the full chain for an underlying:

OCC Symbol · Type · Strike · Bid · Ask · Volume · Open Interest · Implied Volatility · Delta · Gamma · Theta · Vega

APEXTICK.OPTIONS.SCREENER([symbol], [type], [min_volume], [min_oi]) screens the most active contracts across the market and spills:

Underlying · OCC Symbol · Type · Strike · Expiration · Bid · Ask · Last · Volume · Open Interest · Vol/OI · Implied Volatility · Delta · Gamma · Theta · Vega

ArgumentValues
symbolOptional underlying, e.g. "AAPL". Leave it empty to screen the whole market. With a symbol, the add-in screens the 500 most active contracts and keeps that underlying's, so a quiet underlying can return #NO_DATA.
type"all" (default, also "both"), "call" (also "calls", "c") or "put" (also "puts", "p").
min_volumeOptional minimum contract volume (a number).
min_oiOptional minimum open interest (a number).
Excel
=APEXTICK.OPTIONS.CHAIN("NVDA")
=APEXTICK.OPTIONS.SCREENER()
=APEXTICK.OPTIONS.SCREENER("NVDA", "call", 1000, 500)

Macroeconomic data

APEXTICK.ECO.CATALOG([query]) spills the series catalog:

Series ID · Name · Commodity · Metric · Region · Frequency · Unit

query keeps series whose ID, name, commodity, metric or region contains the text, ignoring case, e.g. "corn" or "US".

APEXTICK.ECO(series_id, [date]) spills a series as Date · Value. Without date you get the full series; with a date you get the observation for that day.

Excel
=APEXTICK.ECO.CATALOG("corn")
=APEXTICK.ECO("ECO.USDA.CORN.PROD.US.A")
=APEXTICK.ECO("ECO.USDA.CORN.PROD.US.A", "2025-01-01")

Error codes

When a function can't return data, the cell shows one of these codes. Spilling functions return the code in a single cell.

CodeMeaningWhat to do
#N/AA required argument is empty, such as the symbol, or resolution in APEXTICK.HISTORY.Fill in the required arguments.
#VALUE!min_volume or min_oi in APEXTICK.OPTIONS.SCREENER is not a number.Pass numbers, or leave them empty.
#MISSING_KEYNo API key has been saved in the add-in.Add your key in the taskpane (Lite) or API Settings (Native).
#INVALID_KEYThe saved API key is invalid.Copy your current key from the dashboard and save it again.
#UPGRADE_REQUIREDYour plan doesn't include this data, filter or edition, e.g. options on Trader Pro, or ApexTick Excel Native below Quant & Community.Upgrade your plan, or use a function your plan includes.
#RATE_LIMITYou exceeded your per-minute rate limit or the Hobbyist daily cap.Recalculate later, or refresh fewer cells at once.
#NOT_FOUNDThe symbol, series or record doesn't exist.Check the symbol with APEXTICK.SEARCH.
#INVALID_FIELDThe field isn't recognized in QUOTE, PROFILE, ETF.PROFILE or STREAM.Use one of the fields listed for that function.
#INVALID_INDICATORThe indicator in APEXTICK.INDICATOR isn't recognized.Use one of the listed indicators.
#INVALID_TYPEThe type in APEXTICK.OPTIONS.SCREENER isn't call, put or all.Use one of the accepted values.
#NO_DATAThe request worked but returned nothing, e.g. a symbol without dividends.Check the symbol's coverage or your filters.
#PAYMENT_REQUIREDReserved for billing problems; the API doesn't currently return it.Check your billing in the dashboard.
#API_ERRORThe API rejected the request or had a temporary problem, e.g. an invalid argument value or a server error.Check the arguments, then recalculate.
#ERRORAn unexpected error, such as a network failure.Recalculate; if it persists, contact support.

APEXTICK.STREAM can also show:

CodeMeaning
#GETTING_DATA...Waiting for the first streamed update; this is not an error.
#SYMBOL_LIMITYour plan's concurrent WebSocket symbol cap (10 on Trader Pro, 50 on Quant & Community, 200 on Enterprise) is full.
#WS_ERRORThe streaming connection failed; the add-in reconnects automatically.
Keep large sheets fast

Prefer one spilling function over many single-cell calls: one APEXTICK.HISTORY call is one request. Fill APEXTICK.QUOTE down a column rather than calling other functions per row, so batching can group the requests. For live dashboards, APEXTICK.STREAM pushes updates into cells without spending a REST request per refresh.